Week in review

Quotes of the week

“This president and his Ivy League advisers believe that they know how an economy should develop better than hundreds of millions of market participants spending their own money every day. That is what F. A. Hayek called the ‘fatal conceit,’ the idea that smart people can design a real economy on the basis of their abstract ideas.” – David Boaz “No legal arguments can be settled by force of arms. Those that are subjugated by such methods are not proven legally wrong.” – Timothy Reeves

“For those diligently accumulating gold, how do you know when you have enough? Check your anxiety quotient. If Ben continues printing money or Obama promises more goodies than he has the money to pay for, and you remain calm, then you likely have adequate gold.” – Jeff Clark

by The Wall Street Journal “A string of electoral defeats and the great unpopularity of ObamaCare can’t stop Democrats from their self-appointed rendezvous with liberal destiny—ramming a bill through Congress on a narrow partisan vote. What we are about to witness is an extraordinary abuse of traditional Senate rules to pass a bill merely because they think it’s good for the rest of us, and because they fear their chance to build a European welfare state may never come again.” more…

by Niall Ferguson “If empires are complex systems that sooner or later succumb to sudden and catastrophic malfunctions, what are the implications for the United States today? First, debating the stages of decline may be a waste of time — it is a precipitous and unexpected fall that should most concern policymakers and citizens. Second, most imperial falls are associated with fiscal crises. Alarm bells should therefore be ringing very loudly indeed as the United States contemplates a deficit for 2010 of more than $1.5 trillion — about 11% of GDP, the biggest since World War II.” more…

by Josh Eboch “Over the course of American history, there has been no greater conflict of visions than that between Thomas Jefferson’s voluntary republic, founded on the natural right of peaceful secession, and Abraham Lincoln’s permanent empire, founded on the violent denial of that same right. “That these two men somehow shared a common commitment to liberty is a lie so monstrous and so absurd that its pervasiveness in popular culture utterly defies logic.” more…

by Vedran Vuk “Successfully liberating the vehicle from its icy prison can take hours. After leaving the spot, anyone can take the laboriously freed space. Restoring regular parking conditions quickly requires everyone chipping in for the common good. “During this street clearing process, my neighbors sorted themselves into four groups:” more…

by The Daily Bell “We have no idea what happened on 9/11. But since 9/11 Commission members have reportedly disavowed the full government’s story – and one has written a book claiming the commission was serially lied to by the Bush administration, the FBI, CIA, etc. – we have to conclude that there are elements of the official story that are not entirely accurate. We would think that the US government would want to get to the bottom of such a serious matter, in some way or other. “Now the Washington Times, a mainstream, beltway newspaper, is seemingly opening up the issue again. There was no need to cover yet another “trufers” story and yet the Times has done so – to the astonishment of the alternative blogosphere. We think, not to make a pun, that this is in fact a sign of the times. The pressure to understand what really happened on 9/11 simply won’t go away. It is all over the ‘Net and is in fact gaining momentum in our opinion.” more… [The idea here, as always, is not to naively believe everything you read, but rather to keep an open mind.]

The US Government is set to take a more active role in regulating the Internet.

56% believe the US Government is a threat to their liberty. Funny the Democrat/Republican split on this. Wonder what it would have been four years ago.

Most Americans favor a law (would have to be a Constitutional Amendment to be very useful at all) that would limit all taxes to a maximum of 50% of income.

Ron Paul returns $100,000 of his Congressional Office Budget to the US Treasury. That’s fiscal conservatism in action.

Citi invokes an old banking rule, stating that it reserves the right to make you wait 7 days to withdraw your money from any interest bearing account. That is, if you’re stupid enough to do business with them.

Aspects of the “PATRIOT” Act are extended under the auspices of the “Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act.” More of the same dishonesty and corruption from the net-value-drain capital of the country.

State of Utah could attempt seizure of federal land via eminent domain.

Well, not too much time tonight. Wife and I are going to see Alice in Wonderland at the IMAX in 3D. Should be cool. I bought the tickets yesterday and we’ve got prime seats in the middle about 2/3 of the way up. Baby girl gets a baby sitter. This is our first date since baby girl was born.

Just one quick thing. I added a new number the 3 month LIBOR. It’s the official rate at which banks lend to each other.

Meanwhile, breakfast in Saline tomorrow from 8AM to10AM at the City Limits Diner.